Finding Wonderland Where You Least Expect
by songbird'ssmile
Summary: Let me tell you a story, there was a man who loved his little girl so much that even after he lost her he'd do anything to get her back. Then was another girl, who looked alot like the first. Her name was Artemis. Eventual Spitfire and other pairings!
1. The Falling action

**Disclaimer: And once again i am writing one of these but i'm not sure why because everyone knows what goes her so... WAFFLES!**

**A/N: I realy needed to get this out of my head because it feels like my plot bunnies are playing futbol in there, so i thought they do best if they had less ammintion. **

**Chapter 1: The Falling Action**

**Gotham City: April, 3, 1994**

"Daddy read me a story!" squealed the little girl no older than six as she bounced happily on the small pull out couch adorned with princess sheet and a sparkly pillow. The man looked at his daughter with amusement.

"Which story would you like me to read to you?" he asked looking at the small assortment of beaten up books on the coffee table.

"Alice in Wonderland, Daddy, because her name is Alice, just like mine…" The man smile as he picked up the most worn of the paperbacks off the top of the disheveled stack, and he began to read of disappearing cats, and evil queens, and twins with mixed up directions, and croquet with dodo birds, and a man with a liking for tea who may be just the slightest bit mad, but it was the good kind of mad.

The little girl's eyes began to droop more and more as he read. her head sunk further back on the pillow, her blond ringlets were becoming matted under her head, and her bright blue eyes were losing focus as she began to drift of in to a wonderland all her own; she turned to her father.

"You know Daddy, why I like Alice in Wonderland?" He looked at his little daughter as her face stretched into a tired yawn…

"Why do you like it, dearie?" he asked the girl who would be asleep in less than a wink.

"It's because it so much like my life" The man's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at this.

"Now, why would that be, dearie?"

"Because sometimes I'm so much like Alice…" she said her voice trail off in exhaustion.

"And if your Alice dearie who am I, The Cheshire Cat?"

"No," she said drowsily "You'd be the Mad Hatter, because Alice and him have so much fun together, even when the evil Queen of Hearts tried to break them apart"

The man smiled at her dreamy insight, but his eyes remained sad.

"Is that so dearie?" he said looking around the tiny apartment. Where there was barely any furniture and he let his little girl take the only semi-passible accommodations for a bed. He knew the next morning she'd be gone. To her mother's for two more weeks and he wouldn't see her until next month. And because of the partial restraining order he's literally couldn't see her until next month. His ex-wife claimed him to be mad; if anyone was mad it was the judge for giving her custody of Alice. The Queen of Hearts, as his daughter had so blatantly called her, had timed it so he wouldn't see his daughter on her birthday. He scowled miserably, but later reconsidered. He should leave the sulking for when his daughter wasn't here. He paused at the thought 'When his daughter wasn't here' the idea was enough to drive anyone mad.

One week later

The news headline read.

ELIZABETH HUTCHINSON AND HER SIX YEAR OLD DAUGHTER MISSING

After a long search of the scene of the crash the bodies of the driver and the passenger were not recovered but the amount blood on the seats suggests that one of the people in the accident died. Police are currently looking into their disappearance in hopes of recovering the bodies. The now divorced Mr. Hutchinson has been entered into Arkham Asylum after attempting to kill himself over the news via strangulation. He now being treated at Arkham for delusions and waiting for news of his missing daughter and her mother.

But that headline was over nine years ago. Or to be more exact

Nine years two months, eight days, 4 hours, and 23 minutes ago.

But there's no need for exactness now. When your alone all you have is time, and there is no need for exact.

Still the man had an appointment tonight… so maybe he should be exact. It was after all a business appointment. The man was now nine year older, but you could say it was more like thirty. His mind however was exactly six years gone. But that another story for another time; right now it was time for tea with his new business partner. A man named Lawrence Crock. Who wished to be called Sportsmaster. But the man thought Lawrence sounded better so he would call him Lawrence.

Lawrence needed help with a kidnapping, or more like a president of a major world power napping but that beside the point. Napping was napping; unless you're asleep, then you're not napping, rather dozing or resting your eyes for a bit, but no, not napping. The man looked at his watch.

Oh, he was later very late. He can't be late, he had an appointment.

**Gotham City, June, 11, 2003**

When you're a villain it's not very often that you get desperate enough to ask for help. Epically from certain other villains that pose certain threat that pertain specifically to you or more specifically your family. But when you did get desperate enough sometimes there is no other choice. So you do whatever you can to make sure all precautions are taken with the exchange.

"Artemis," Sportsmaster says gruffly trying not to let his voice show any hint of what would transgress tonight "I need you to stay in your room tonight"

Eight years old Artemis, looks at her father in confusion. Usually he invited her to join him on his business exchanges, so she could learn how to manage them correctly.

Never show fear

Always have them meet their side of the deal first

And always, _**always**_ bring back up. Also Known As: her.

So what was he doing? Artemis opened her mouth to speak, but a look from her dad bought her silence.

"You are to stay in you room; do you understand? Don't make a sound and don't come out for any reason; until I tell you it's okay. Got it?" he said his voice was harsh but Artemis knew she should listen. This would not be like all the other times this was different and Artemis wasn't quite sure why.

She went in to the room and heard the door click shut. There wasn't a lock but the snap was enough to make her jump. She sat on her bed and picked up her favorite book, Alice and wonderland and began to read silently, only stopping when she heard a soft knock on the main door of the apartment.

Lawrence cursed as her went to the door. Why in hell did the lunatic insist of meeting in his house of all places, but still he opened the door with a false smile of commerce written all over his face.

"Welcome, Hatter" he said can I get you anything

"Tea," he said "Tea, you can never have enough tea!"

"Tea it is…" said Lawrence thanking that his wife had taught him a thing or two about tea before she had gone to jail. He put a bit of water in to the old kettle to boil and turned back to the mad man.

"So the business transaction we have; can you meet your end?"

The man smiled, but it didn't meet his eyes.

"Of course." He said "Do you have my payment?"

Lawrence raised an eyebrow at his suggestion

"Not until you deliver your end"

"Well, I see you don't understand how I work, Lawrence?"

"Sportsmaster." grunted Lawrence under his breath. "The name's Sportsmaster."

"Very well, Lawrence, but you see… I only work in very specific ways and one of those ways is I require payment first" there was a sudden calmness to his tone that was off-setting.

"Very well" Lawrence grunted as he left to the other room.

Artemis let out a squeak from behind the door she had been pressed up against as she strained to listen to the conversation outside. Her father was giving in just like that; it was odd, to say the least. Realizing her gasp had made a bit more noise than expected; she clamped a hand over her mouth as if to try and recapture the noise that had escaped, but the damage was done.

"What was that?" asked the Hatter cocking his ear to one side.

"What was what?" asked Lawrence form the other room as he counted out stacks of money he had received in the little arrangement he had with another group for the kidnapping of the world leader.

"Why that noise, dear Lawrence, it sounds as if it came from that room there…"

Lawrence froze. He had told her to keep quiet; why couldn't she just listen?

"This room, you mean? The floor boards over here are a little squeaky you know old apartments" the hatter made a small 'hmm' in agreement, but wasn't deterred.

"No I'm sure it came from that room" Artemis froze against the door. She should hide but she didn't want to draw and more unwanted attention with her footsteps.

The tea pot began to whistle loudly, and both Artemis and Lawrence let out a sigh of relief.

Artemis use the high-pitched whistle to cover her steps; as she backed away from the door. But the small run in the room caught her heel and she landed on her back with a thump.

"What was that?" asked the Hatter.

"Tea's done" said Lawrence trying to change subjects, but the Hatter stood and began to walk over to the door. The hatter's hand was on the doorknob before Lawrence could say anything more. He barely got out, "It just a cat!"; before the mad Hatter laughed, as he peered into the room at the young girl.

"Looks more like an Alice to me, hello dearie, do you remember me?"

Artemis just stared at the man in confusion.

"Get away from her!" shouted Lawrence as he reached for a knife hidden in his belt. Artemis scurried backward into her room. She didn't know the man, but the way he looked at her scared her greatly.

"If I leave, I'd like to take my Alice with me" the Hatter said his voice seemed possessed and confused but with an underlying determination that left him capable of doing anything to get back his little girl.

"Hatter stop, that's my daughter, Artemis, now get away from her, I do not think this business deal will work out"

"Alice!" screeched the man lunging for the door but Lawrence slammed it shut.

A frozen minute passed before it melted and dripped into a delirium them the Hatter slow retruned to reality.

"We were discussing a business deal, Lawrence, Yes?' Stunned, Lawrence could only nod.

"Well let's get to it. Where's that tea?" Lawrence was unsure about the threat hatter seemed to pose to his daughter but at the moment he didn't seem to have a choice. The hatter was by far the best in the kidnapping business even if he seemed to be madder than, well.. a Hatter. He handed him the case with the money. The Hatter handed half back.

"Half now, half after and you and your daughter are helping me?" he said with a sickening giggle "May I have some more tea please?"

A month later the kidnapping plans were finally in place and Lawrence is relived. A month of finding ways for his daughter to avoid the Hatter at all cost, and several failures to do so resulted in a terrified Artemis. Artemis couldn't be terrified of him or anyone; if she was terrified she couldn't kill and therefore her train thus far would be in vain. So Lawrence truly hoped this went well; the hatter is not someone he planed on working with again, ever.

And the plan seemed to be going accordingly until the final drop for the hostage, the most crucial one. At the last minute they were intercepted, scattered and left in a daze before anyone could figure out whether the hostage was there or not. All that was left is a red paper heart torn almost in two.

After this the Hatter simply broke down and began to weep; the other Henchmen just stare at him and Lawrence does, too.

"Definitely, never working with him again."

**8 years later**

**?: April, 3, 2012**

The Young Justice team is on a mission. The daughter of a US senator was taken in the middle of the night and they are sent to track her down.

With Robin's hacking skills and Megan's abilities the find her in just under an hour before the deadline.

When the find her she's alone in a warehouse, sobbing but alive. She's barely fifteen years old, and her blond hair's done up on her head with a large bow. Her dress is baby blue, matching her eyes. She looks physically fine but she visibly shaken, and whoever did this is nowhere to be found. The team searched the warehouse for hours and the don't find a single scrap of evidence that anyone else was there.

Or course Kaldur points out she didn't just end up in a warehouse in the middle of nowhere dressed so strange on her own.

"She dressed as Alice, from Alice in Wonderland…" said both Artemis and Wally at the same time. Robin laughs lightly. As the two stare at each other for a second longer, before Artemis cracks a small smile.

"I never took you for the book type"

"Hey, I read but Alice in wonderland I only remember seeing the movie, it was my favorite..." Says Wally sheepishly. Artemis's smirk shifts to a smile, but she doesn't say "mine too" or "I prefer the book". They can talk about that later at the Cave, when there wasn't a kidnapper loose.

Eventually the rest of the team goes outside to check the surrounding woods, but as she nearly leaves Artemis hears something, a single thump from one of the upper platforms in the warehouse. Artemis bolts after the noise, swiftly climbing the ladder connecting the crosshatched platforms to the base floor. All she can see out of the corner of her eyes is a white blur and something hinting of green. She turns to see a figure running quickly away from her.

"Stop!" she yells at the figure, running after him through a twist and turns of the metal maze. She grabs for her bow but suddenly the figure begins to shake the less secure platform underneath her. She almost falls but instead her bow plummets to the ground. The man turns revealing his blood shot eyes and his smile that won't meet them. His unsmiling eye widen in surprise.

"Alice," he says. Artemis freezes at the familiar voice and almost familiar name. She stands their petrified in a combination of shock and remembered fear resurfacing anew.

"You came back to me; I knew you would!" unexpectedly she's surrounded by a thick fog of smoke and the world starts to go a bit blurry around the edges. Finally she gives in and feels her weight being lifted by another force.

The last thing she hears is a laugh so calm and familiar yet it injects ice in to her veins all the same. She should run but right now, the black, it's so inviting. She knows if she let it take her; she'll be fine. Right? Yes, she'll be fine.

Because Alice has returned, and now she can be safe…

**Okay, Okay, Okay I know other people, I mean a lot of other people, have done this idea, with the whole Alice/Artemis parallel thing, but this is kinda my spin on it. And if you check I'm sure this may be the only one where the hatter isn't some kind of perverted freak. Because I know tons of people think Alice and Hatter had something but I was always sure it was closer to father daughter kind of something. And I just recently watched OUAT episode Hat Trick to which there are a few subtle references to, but no direct correlation. So yeah hope you enjoyed this Chapter I think though I'll need to take my time with this story. But if you'd like to prompt me to take my time faster the review button is right there. And you're perfectly capable. So Read and Review - ; ) Song**


	2. Crash Landing

**Chapter 2 Crash Landing**

**Gotham: April, 15, 1994 **

The man lay in the corner of the small apartment, curled in on himself and shaking in the throes of a cold sweat. His now raspy voice muttered over and over again.

"She's dead! She's dead… She's dead."

His frame of mind would shift between hysterical sobs and low gasps like that of a wounded animal. He had taken something that was supposed to calm him down, just over an hour ago, but it didn't seem to be taking effect. He decided eventually to take some more of his meds and a small amount of gin to take the edge off. He shouldn't have taken anything, his body began to shake and he rocked back in to the wall. His head felt like it was going to burst and right then the man wasn't sure he would have minded.

"No, No, No…" he began a chant of whispers that grew into ear piercing screeches.

"No." He half whined, half sobbed. "I-I-I won't let her keep me from my daughter any longer, I won't, I won't let the queen of hearts take my Alice away from me" The man's face was paled and tried as he stood almost toppling over himself from the momentum. He nearly crawled over to the box in the corner of the room where there was a rope, a strong rope for putting boxes in the roofs of cars for long distances, and it would do.

His hand shook as he fumbled with the knot. Sobbing, he fastened one end securely to the heavy metal curtain holder, but the sobs gradually turned to maniacal laughter as he fastened the rope around his own neck. He pulled the knot tight and sank to the floor; the smile on his face reaching his eyes for the last time.

**Arkham Asylum, Gotham City: 3 days later April, 18, 1994**

The man woke up to the blinding artificial light of white walls and hospital fixtures. This was strange because the man assumed he was dead and would never wake up again at all, but here he was in a hospital with IV's sticking out of his body and dozens of monitors surrounding his bed. He felt fine which was another shock given he was sure he had been dead, but no her he was now; wherever here was.

Hastily he got up pulling out the IV's and leaving the monitors in a mess of beeps, and shrill whistles. He didn't care; he wanted to get out of here. He shouldn't be here, he should be dead. He walks out the door of the white room its open and there's no lock; he assumes he's free to leave. The halls are fairly empty and nearly silent as he makes his way down the hall arriving at a tall desk with a rather bored looking woman behind it. He wants to talk to her and ask her 'What's going on?', 'Why isn't he dead?', when he sees a flash of blonde hair out of the corner of his eye. There a little girl being led into another room, but 'No' he considers the possibility 'It couldn't be her… it couldn't be. She's dead; just like he should be.' He looks back to the door, but it's closed now. He can hardly help but walk towards it in desperate hope.

The lady at the desk looks up.

"Sir…? Sir! You're not allowed there, Sir, stop! Step away from there!"

He doesn't listen; he looks into the room through the small window and her barely able to make out the back of the little girls head. The blonde hair that color and that cut, looks exactly like his Alice. The man was never one to believe in heaven or and after life but there's a part of him that wants to believe it's her. He begins to shout her name through the glass; willing her to turn so he can see the girl's face.

"Alice!" the girl turns ever so slightly as he yanked forcefully backwards by a set of strong men in hospital scrubs. He barely makes out her face but is enough for him to see. That's his Alice. He beings to thrash violently to escape their grasp. He screams her name over and over trying to get to his little girl. The doctor to the man's left asks for a sedative and the man fight harder, but the one on his right jabs a thin plunger into his neck. The black encompasses his vision; every part of his being is holding on to the single hope that yes, his little girl is still alive.

On the other side of the door the girl turns back curiously to Dr. James.

"Alice?" She says softly so it's almost a question.

"Hmm?" inquires Dr. James

"Alice, that man called me. The name sound familiar…" He blue eyes are blank and innocent but there something dangerous stirring beneath them and Dr. James can sense it. He does his best to smooth it over.

"It's quite a common name, Celia, I'm sure you probably heard it before in a book or something…?"

That strikes the right chord; the girl nods. "Yes, a book, that sounds right!" She shakes her head as if she's shaking away the confusion the earlier incident had caused and smiles brightly at Dr. James.

"Now, why don't you lay down; so I can take some blood and run some tests. Okay?" The girl lies on the little metal table and holds out her arm willingly. The man put the needling her arm but instead of drawing blood he pushes down on the plunger and the girl fades into a deep sleep.

Three hours later the man wakes up in a panic looking around the room. The IV's are al back in his arms and the monitors are creating a frantic melody. The man looks as if he been woken from the most terrible nightmare or rather woken up to a night mare much more terrifying.

There's a nurse he doesn't remember standing by the table looking intently at the blinking colors on the screen.

He grabs the nurse arm roughly shaking her intent focus. "Where is Alice; where is my daughter?"

The nurse looks frightened "Sir, what are you talking about?" she exclaims.

Slowly she collects herself before responding in a more soothing voice "You must be in shock. You tried to kill yourself but we revived you. You've been asleep since Thursday." She ties to go back to focusing on the screen but the man won't let her.

"No, I saw my daughter." He says the confusing in his tone pepper with the slightest hint of anger. "I'm sure of it and I was dead I'm, sure of that too"

"Now I'm sure this is all very confusing to you, but you were dead; as I said we revived you." The man's eyes flash with rage.

"W-w-why?" he sputtered "How?" he added as a afterthought.

"I don't know the specifics, but you were brought in by a woman who claimed she knew you. She told us to start you on some kind of intravenous fluid. Doctor Cameron wasn't going to do the procedure but the dean told her she had to and after the procedure you just stared breathing again. I swear, I've never seen anything like it before." The nurse turned back to the monitor again curiously.

"Name?" said the man through gritted teeth.

"Pardon?" asked the nurse confused.

"What was the name of the woman who brought me in here?" he asked his tone breaking ever so sharply.

"I don't know, Shannon at the front desk might know, I believe…" the nurse pause contemplating something.

"Oh, yes this was left for you when you woke up it's a phone number, I believe….?" She handed him a small slip of paper shaped like a heart torn almost in two with a string of numbers hastily scrawled on it.

He held it in his hand not yet bring himself to look at it, instead he turned back to the nurse.

"My-my daughter, I saw her flesh and blood. She was alive. There was a doctor caring for her."

The nurse looked confused, "Dr. Cameron said this might happen as a side effect of the chemicals."

"What do you mean?" asked the man incredulously "I saw my daughter…"

"Sir you must have been having delusions; the fluid they gave you is supposed to cause that. You couldn't possibly have seen you daughter." The nurse paused thinking over her words once again

"She was found dead this morning." The man looked down and began to mutter incoherencies that the nurse could just barely make out

"But I saw her,… I swear I did, No! ….she can't take her away, not again,… My Alice, the evil, evil Queen of Hearts… I'm not dead… why am I not dead?"

He finally brought himself to look at the heart and man began to weep as he noticed the number on the heart; it was his ex-wife's number.

**Abandoned Warehouse in the middle of Nowhere: April, 3, 2012**

One word bellowed through the mental link.  
>"Artemis!"<br>They had been connected for less than a minute when Artemis suddenly disappeared from the mental link. It wasn't like she was unconnected I was like her mind just didn't exist anymore.

Up until that point they hadn't been linked, because it turned out that the only person that seemed to be I the warehouse as a scared little girl who wanted to go home. But when they decided to search the surrounding area Kaldur had decided it would be best if the reconnected so they could search more effectively. Unfortunately before he could tell the rest of the team, they had already run off, and split up into their usual groups. Wally sprinted ahead through the throng of trees and Robin followed soon after. Zantanna went in similar direction trying to use magic to locate the unknown man. Megan had just stared to trail after Connor and wolf, when Kaldur had reminded her to link up the team.

The instruction was carried out with ease but the search was brought to a screeching halt soon after as one name froze its way through the mind link. Wally was the first to respond.  
>"What happened, Megan, is she okay?"<br>Megan's confusion spread over the mental link.  
>"She was in the warehouse and her mind just vanished suddenly..."<br>Wally didn't need any more confirmation than that, as he took off running at full speed towards the warehouse, ignoring Megan's warnings that something was wrong here and it might not be safe to go in. The next to respond was Robin who told Kaldur to have the team cover all the exits of the warehouse incase Artemis was still inside. Robin followed after KF asking Megan to try and explain what happen. Honestly Megan wasn't quite clear on that herself. She tried to think about all the past encounter she had with psychic powers before and she had never seen anything like this.

"I don't know," she said settling on an answer "I don't think it's possible for her to just have disappeared like that. If she had gone somewhere else I should still be able to find her mind but it's like her mind no longer exists. Who or what ever did this seems completely different from anything I'm familiar with. I think we need to be careful." At the last word Robin began to pick up the pace, Wally had no idea what he was running into. Of course at the moment rest of the team didn't either.

Wally bolted into the warehouse in seconds, his gaze scanning over the too quiet warehouse; before his eyes settle on something green lying on the ground. As he moved closer to it; his limbs began to feel unexpectedly heavy. He peered down at the bow suspiciously; it was broken completely in two. He looked up into the metal maze above him, taking in a deep breath; before calling out her name.

"Artemis…?"

There was no response. He went to taking in another breath but his head suddenly felt dizzy. He body began to sway a bit before sinking slowly to the ground. His conscious mind slipping as he began to pass out. As he closed his eyes he noticed something resting on the break in the bow. It was a small red heart torn almost in two.

**Mount Justice: April, 3,****2012**

Kid flash awoke in the med bay, his head throbbing painfully. He looked around the empty white walled room. '_Where was everyone'_ he thought. _'What happened?_'

He swears he just had the craziest dream ever. Artemis had been capture by some lunatic who was obsessed with Alice in Wonderland, but that sounded too crazy and terrible; it couldn't have possibly happened. '_Artemis kidnapped? There was no way would she ever let herself get kidnaped and even so, I – I mean the team wouldn't let her be…"_ Wally shook his head. It was no use to think about that now. He should find the rest of the team and maybe find out why his head kills so much. He hopped quickly out of the bed cot before stumbling back down with a sudden bout of vertigo. '_Really…?_' he thought, _'What had he hit his head with? It felt like he had run into a concrete wall at full speed._'

He got up slowly this time trying not to chance another round of nausea. He walked at a semi-normal pace as he checked the main room, the training room, even the kitchen. Finally he reached the briefing room, where they receive their missions; only to find almost the entire team swarmed around the computer as the Boy Wonder sat typing furiously at the key board.

He glanced over to the center of the room where he saw Aqualad and Miss Martian trying to analyze a green bow broken in two.

"Wait" he thought "That's Artemis's bow and it's broken… which mean it mustn't have been a dream… which means…"

"Damn…" Wally cursed out loud. Everyone head's turned in his direction.

"What?" he said trying to draw attention away from himself. "Don't mind me I just realized I woke up to a nightmare that I though was all a dream" He said with the slightest hint of ire in his voice. Megan, being ever sympathetic, went over him to give him a small hug, before returning to her nervous pacing, or in her case floating, around the table with Artemis's bow on it.

Wally turned to Robin, who was still facing the computer typing away.

"Where is she?" asked Wally keeping his tine even.

Robin shook his head, "I'm not sure." He stopped typing for a second to look at his friend reassuringly.

"But we are going to find her, KF…"

"How?" he asked his voice cracked ever so slightly. "We're not even sure who took, her never mind,, where they might be… how are we supposed to find her?" Wally meant to tale a step towards Robin but instead he stumbled a bit.

"Whoa… KF you really shouldn't be standing…. you inhale a ton of knockout gas at the warehouse… your probably still pretty lightheaded."

"Rob, I'm fine. I think whatever it was, has mostly worn off by now." He said be for tripping over his feet again.

"You should still sit down…" said Zantanna "It'll help it vertigo go away faster."

She muttered some backwards words and a chair appeared. Wally sat down, but stood up again anxiously a second later.

"So what exactly are you doing" he asked the Boy Wonder watching him type several codes across the mostly dark screen.

Robin gave one of his trademark smirks before stating simply "This."

Before Wally could ask exactly what 'this' was. Robin held up the tiny red heart that Wally vaguely remembers seeing before he fell and hit his head.

"This heart" he said, "Is a tracking device. I found a way to reverse the tracking signal so I can track whoever is tracking it; which will hopefully lead us to whoever took Artemis…"

"Hopefully?" questioned Kid Flash.

Wally tried to look relived but honestly he only felt more worried. Artemis was still currently who know where, with a mad man, who was doing who knows what to her.

**Location Unknown: Same day April, 3, 2012**

The stranger dressed in red stood outside the warehouse. The week was wearing on her and she was running on empty, having fallen asleep for the third time that day. But that what happens when you hardly get any sleep for five days straight and insomnia hasn't kicked in quite yet.

She curse when she looked at her tracker screen realizing in the hour she been dozing off the Hatter had moved again. She looked at the small screen watching the little red blinking heart. The Hatter wasn't far off an aerial scan showed he was on some sort of island.

She knew should move now but it might not be the best idea she reasoned with herself. She was absolutely wasted from nights of nothing more than a few winks of sleep.

She had been chasing the hatter for a long time but his travels were growing erratic and she could hardly keep up with him anymore. Still the Hatter always stayed in a place for at least tree days. She had time.

She should sleep now and go back to tracking him, when she could think straight. But just as a caution, she decided to move closer to his location anyways. She hopped lightly off the roof of the warehouse before turning to the woods to find her bike. Her motorbike was camouflaged well but it took her a second to find it with her tracker. Truthfully she was only supposed to them for the Hatter but they were useful for other things too, like keeping track of the few things she carried with her while on the move.

When she found, her bike she made sure to check she still had a charge, and by the looks of it she would probably just make it.

It takes her almost 15 hours to get to "Happy Harbor"; the name even sound like one of Hatter's haunts.

She shudders at the thought, parking her bike by the edge of the harbor near a rusted building that smells strongly of fish. She hits the clocking device on the bike and scales her way up to the roof finding the least visible spot. She then sinks carefully to the ground trying to find a comfortable spot, before falling into a dreamless sleep.

**I am so sorry it took this long to post this I was having trouble with migraines and other personal issues. So after a week I finally sucked it up and decide to get on with my life. I promise the next chapter will definitely be up this weekend. So yeah,… a lot of questions this chapter… who is the mysterious stranger? Why what up with the Hatter and his ex? What's with the heart shaped tracker? And where is Artemis during all this? Well most of those answers will be up next chapter… So for now Read and Review ;) - Song**


	3. Welcome to Wonderland

**Disclaimer: no es mio **

**Chapter 3: Welcome to Wonderland**

**Location Unknown: April, 4 2012 **

Going mad isn't something that just happens overnight. It's gradual, slow-building tension that pulls apart you mind bit by bit until you finally snap… or at least that how Hatter remembers it.

Still, here's the strange thing, no one ever tells you what you're supposed to do after you snap. And perhaps they can't because, well, after you snap nothing makes sense anymore. And sometimes it doesn't matter if it does.

For example right now the Hatter was looking at his daughter, his supposedly dead daughter; who couldn't possibly be dead, because she was sitting right here in front of him and was very much alive. Her blond hair was falling around her face in a peaceful sleep. In a few minute she would wake up and the Hatter would be over-joyed. He was always happy to see his daughter again…

* * *

><p>Artemis lay almost motionless in the ground, except for the subtle rise and fall of her chest which was soon joined by the flutter of her eye lids as she began to regain consciousness. Her thoughts were fuzzy as to how she had ended up here, wherever here was…<p>

She had the strangest feeling; it was almost indescribable. Detached, was the closest word she could think of to match it. Slowly she felt her body being pulled up right, almost like a doll, as her head swiveled, of its own accord, back and forth before focusing on an all too familiar face, the Hatter.

Unfortunately that was not how her voice chose to recognize him.

"Daddy!" the word spilled from her mouth before she could stop them and her uncooperative body stood up and ran stiffly over to the Hatter, who embraced her in a hug.

She felt he hand on the back of her hair, which had somehow been taken out of a ponytail and now hung loose around her head and past her waist. Her clothes on her skin felt foreign to her, as did the Hatter's embrace but her head buried in to the Hatter's shoulder and her voice betrayed her again.

"Daddy I missed you so much!" The Hatter pulled them apart and looked at her; his gaze not quite looking at her though rather looking through her.

"I did too, Alice. I am so glad to have you back..." Panic crept into her mind as she began to question what was going on. She knew she wasn't Alice, the Hatter was most certainly not her father, and currently she had no control over any part of her body.

"Daddy where are we?" she asked interrupting her own thoughts. As her head swiveled around she could see the lay out of the place she was in, but that only made her more confused.

It looked like they were out doors but the sky was the strangest color of purple. The grass on the other hand was blue and flowers were everywhere boasting a multitude of colors all tie-dyed together. In the center of the strange garden sat a table she with a mish mashed quilt posing as a table cloth and an equally mismatched tea set strewn about it. Around the table were all varieties of dolls and stuffed animals with their little hand propped up in front of them pretending to drink tea. Artemis had a fair idea of where she was, but honestly that answer didn't sound the slightest bit plausible.

"We're in Wonderland, dearie..." Artemis felt the body literally jump with joy and once again hug the Hatter, but in her mind she began to worry, _"How in heck was she going to get out of here." _

Her body moved stiffly sitting down to the tea party and chatting with the stuffed animal like she knew them. And maybe she did; Artemis really wasn't sure about anything going on right now. The Hatter sat down beside her and began chatting along, playing right in to her made-up conversations with the other characters.

After a while Artemis found she could think around her own actions now that she was no longer the one controlling them. She let her mind wander until suddenly, she went blind.

Well, not really; it was more like she could no longer see out of her own eyes. All that there was in front of her was a large mas of gray everywhere. Looking closer at it, she began to make out colors almost picture of memories, places, thoughts but they were all strew about in some sort of disorganized collage.

"_Where am I now?"_ she thought, trying to get a better look at the memories. Suddenly she moved closer to one and it fell out from the gray wall she looked at it questioningly before she reached out and picked it up. "_Wait!"_ she though _"How can I pick something up; when I can't move?"_ She looked down. Her body was dressed some sort of green smock, her feet were bare and they rested on more of the strange gray stuff. She looked at her hand were the memory was. Slowly it began to fill her mind, as she remembered.

It was one of her and her father, the day after Jade left. They were sitting down for a usually late breakfast. It was one of the few times her father had made pancakes. She could remember it because, he only made pancakes when something was wrong. She remembered the way he looked at her as he put a plate in front of her, and then took the seat across from her with a plate for himself.

"Artemis…" his voice became serious and Artemis had sat up a little straighter too look like she was paying attention. "Can you make me a promise?" She recalled being a little confused. She rarely made promises. Her dad told her that it's best not to make promises because you can't always keep them. Still she had nodded yes.

"Artemis do you understand why I train you and you sister?" she nodded yes, wondering what he would make her promise.

"It's because I need you to be prepared for you future, so you can survive, so you can live up to your potential; do you understand that?" again, she had nodded yes.

"Artemis I need you to promise not to leave, no matter how tough training or anything around here gets, okay?" Artemis had hesitated.

"What if someone takes me away?" she had said with the entire worst case scenario rational of a seven year old.

"I won't let that happen." He said firmly "Now do you promise?"

Artemis nodded but her father shook his head "I need you to say this out loud Artemis; you promise you won't leave?"

"I promise I won't leave" she said before her father nodded and handed her the syrup.

"Good, now eat you pancakes; they're getting cold…" Artemis took the syrup and proceeded to smother her slightly burnt pancakes in it.

Artemis set the memory back into the gray wall with a sigh. Remembering how a few years later she broke that promise. Well technically, he left first so it was kind of a gray area but still. She looked around at the gray wall. It didn't seem to have an end or a beginning. Then she paused noticing a rather larger hole in the wall that was almost completely white. Curiously she went over too it and stuck her hand through.

"If you wish to stay out there; I'd advise you not to come in here…" Artemis froze before leaning toward the strange gap.

"If you don't want to lose your mind; I suggest you stay in it." said the strange voice that seemed to be coming from the gap in the wall.

"Umm... What is that supposed to mean?' asked Artemis, half questioning why she was responding to strange voices in her mind.

"You, dearie are in your mind right now, or to be more specific you're in your subconscious while the program resides in you conscious mind. That why you have no control over your body. And I, dearie, am in my own mind right now also in my subconscious..."

"And who exactly are you?" she asked realizing the voice was thankfully not part of her own mind.

"You know me as the Hatter, of course we've probably never actually been able to meet because of the program…" said the voice trailing off dissonantly.

"Okay, what the heck are you talking about?" said Artemis slightly aggravated by the voice, who apparently knew all about what ever was going on right now but refuse to tell her straight out.

"Of course, you wouldn't know about the program" Artemis was begining to get kind of irritated by the voice

"No, obviously, I don't. Would you explain it please…?"

"Certainly, I'm talking of course about the Wonderland Program. Wonderland was a word used by the programmers to describe the deepest wish and the fondest memory of a person. The program work by allowing trigger of some kind that would usually cause extreme sadness to instead make the person relive their happiest memory and/or their greatest desire or wish."

"And in your case what exactly would that be..." Artemis questioned, wondering exactly what she was going to be a part of.

"Isn't it obvious? I want to see my daughter again; the program allows me to do that?" somehow the level of happiness in his voice was both encouraging and nerve-wracking.

"So why exactly, do you need me?" she asked. If it was all just some sort of fake delusion; why did he need to drag another person into it?

"The program is flawed I need another person to act as my daughter or the program won't run…" if Artemis could frown right now; she would.

"Well, what's wrong with seeing her, you know, in real life?"

"I can't; Alice died when she was six…" the melancholy tone in his voce almost make her feel sorry for him, almost.

"Well that doesn't mean you can go around pretend other people are her and kidnap them." Artemis retorted.

"I know but I don't really have much of a choice anymore. Once the program is triggered; it runs until something interrupts it or there's an error." _"What kind of sicko made this program?" _Artemis mentally deliberated_ "and what made this guy so desperate that he'd actually consent to having it put in his brain...?"_

"Then, what exactly would interrupt it" she asked the voice; assuming it wouldn't give her a straight answer.

"I'd rather not tell you that…" and she was right

"What? Why?" she asked raising her mental voice at least an octave.

"Because I am happy now; when the program's running it doesn't feel like she gone anymore and it hurts a lot less." The way he said it was almost pitiful, but honestly Artemis didn't want to stay here forever.

"But I don't want to stay here; you can just keep me trapped here like this!"

"I'm sorry. I like to help you, but I can't"

"No, you just said you could…" the hole started to shrink "Wait! What's happening! You can't just leave me here! I don't want to be here!" she was practically mentally shouting now.

"I'd advise you to keep you voice down; the program doesn't like it when you mind is too active…"

"Well screw the program, why should I care if it doesn't like me being here…? I'm not all that found of it in my mind either!"

The hole stopped shrinking for a moment and the sound of something breaking reverberated through her mind.

"That's why" said the voice smugly.

"Ow! What the heck was that?" Artemis could feel something wet trickling from the side of her head.

She turned back to look through her own eyes again. The Hatter seemed to be going berserk. He was smashing the teacups from the table against every hard surface he could find. Apparently the last one he had thrown had caught her head as is sailed to the ground and shattered into a thousand tiny pieces.

"Quiet! Quiet! We need quiet! Stop talking!" he screeched repeatedly before he abruptly stopped. Then as if nothing had happened he bent down next Artemis and addressed the cut on her head almost tenderly. He picked up the table cloth and press it to her face mopping away some of the blood. He press one of the tea bags to her face over the wound* it stung a bit but eventually the cut stopped bleeding. He kissed her cheek and Artemis only then notice there were tears streaming down her face when she felt one drop fall off the slop of her nose.

"Oh, Daddy!" cried her voice

"It's okay Alice; it's all better now…" he wiped away her tears and handed her one of the stuffed animal which looked like a cross between a rabbit and a rag doll.

"Told you so." said the voice

"Okay, I'll keep my voice down…" said Artemis silently fuming.

Artemis decided I'd probably be best if she did stop talking for a bit, as she glanced around at her memories and thoughts. After a few minute that quickly became boring. She glanced over at the hole in her mind, but she knew she didn't want to talk to the psychotic jerk who was keeping her in here. Eventually she decided to turn back to her own vision.

The scene outside of her mind had change somewhat; at the moment the Hatter was reading to Artemis or Alice, technically. Ironically it was not _Alice in Wonderland_; it was another storybook, _Rapunzel_. Artemis had always like that story as a child even though "_Alice_" was her favorite. She watched as the Hatter passed the book to her and she heard her voice begin to read. Only now did she notice how child-like she sounded. She heard herself tripping over some of the longer words, confusing her 'b's with 'd's and her 's's with 'z's. The Hatter gently corrected her, then once she finished the page took the book back to read the next page. He added several things that she could read were definitely not in the story and she heard her own voice correct him with a light giggle. Artemis found it almost hard not to laugh herself.

Idly she pondered what would have happened if Alice hadn't died. Despite the insanity, the Hatter actually seemed like a good father. He seemed to actually care for the little girl even if none of this was real. Honestly, Artemis found herself wondering what kind of life Alice could have had, if she had lived.

**Happy harbor: April 4 2012 4:32 am**

The sun rose over Happy Harbor through a bright cloudless sky.

However, the stranger in red couldn't have possibly hated it more. She had just gotten seven hours of sleep which was the most she'd had in weeks, possibly months still there was nothing nice about being woken up by the sunrise. Especially if you were asleep on a roof top again, or to be more specific the ninth time that week. Not that there was anything wrong with roof tops. Really, they were a tactical advantage and relatively safe places to sleep; but comfortable? Not really.

Grudgingly the stranger propped herself up on to her shoulders looking around the horizon. "_That's right"_ she remembered "_Today I get to go for a little boat ride."_ She thought sarcastically. She wasn't really a morning person to say the least. She got up rather slow from her make shift "bed" that consisted of a tarp that was left in the roof and her helmet, which wasn't the best pillow but it propped her head off the ground enough. Standing up she began to stretched her back trying to work out the kinks that had probably formed overnight in her back. She took the ponytail holder of her hair, shaking her head slightly before pulling the mass of blonde back into a large ponytail, so it wound get in the way.

She knew it'd probably be a good idea to cut it, but honestly she couldn't bring herself to. Her hair seemed like an important part of her, a reminder of something she had long forgotten. If she cut it she might never get that memory, whatever it was, back; so she kept it. As long and cumbersome as it was; she refused to cut it.

She tiredly she glanced at her digital watch. She should get going now; she had a Hatter to catch and a boat to steal. Well probably not in that order, but it was still early in the morning she was tired. And maybe she should find a way to work coffee into that plan.

**Mount Justice: April 4 2012 4: 54 am**

It wasn't the first time the team had pulled an all-nighter but it was the first time the entire team really didn't feel like they'd rather be sleeping.

Robin was still trying to hack the tracking device because even though is plan worked in theory; it apparently took a lot longer to make that theory a reality.

Finally, sometime around five or four in the morning Robin looked up from the screen.

"I did it." He said. Kid flash was next to him in a less than a second.

"Really?" he asked, as the rest of the team gathered around the computer screen trying to see.

"What does it a say, Robin?" asked Kaldur.

"Where is she?" asked Wally

"It only leads to the person tracking the heart; not necessarily Artemis…" clarified Robin as he turned to look at the monitor. Robin suddenly frowned "Ummm... That's odd according to this the person tracking the heart is right here on top of us, but that can't be right." Robin said looked up and around the briefing room. Suddenly the handle on the door began to turn, the team readied themselves as the door opened revealing a woman in red holding two daggers in her hands. A look of confusion crossed her features for a split second before setting into a look of determination. Her eyes darted quickly around the room and three words left her lips.

"Where's the Hatter?"

*** in case this isn't a universal thing, if you put a tea bag on a cut (preferably the cheep kind and anything but green tea) it will cause the blood to coagulate and stop the bleeding...**

**So yeah, more than on question was answered this chapter if you payed close enough attention, the obvious one being "Where's Artemis?" On a similar note if anyone is confused about the Wonderland Program and doesn't think the explanation is clear enough please tell me so I can fix it or go more in depth in a future chapter. So please read and review. Reviews are my Wonderland so please light up my day and leave a review and i will update soon. - ; ) Song**


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